Friday, 12 July 2013

Telangana Bonalu Festival Hyderad

Bonalu:-
The opening of the bonalu festival is marked with the Kalasha sthapana at the temple site. The Kalasa Stapana servers as indication to the devotees for commencement of the
celebration of the festival. The Bonalu festival is mainly celebrated by women.

Bonalu Jathara is the annual festival celebrated at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh state. This festival is celebrated famous ujjaini Mahankali temple of Secunderabad. Festival is celebrated in Assad masam (July – August).





Story behind Secunderbad Mahakali:-
he festival will be observed today and tomorrow. Thousands of devotees will offer bonalu to goddess Ammavaru during the festival. The festival has a grand history of 200 years.
  Plague The story has it that in 1813, Suriti Appaiah, a ‘doli’ bearer in a military battalion, was transferred to Ujjain.
 Plague broke out in Hyderabad around that time claiming thousands of lives.
Appaiah and his associates went to the Mahankaal temple in Ujjain and prayed that if people were saved from the epidemic, they would install the idol of Mahankali in Secunderabad. On their return, they installed a wooden idol of the goddess in Secunderabad in July 1815. This was replaced with a stone statue in 1964.





History Of Bonalu Festival:-
The festival history has started in 1813 in Hyderabad and Secuderabad. Plague disease broke out in Hyderabad . People believed that the disease was the result of the anger of Mother Goddess. So people offered bonalu(Bojanalu) to Mother Goddess Mahankali.




Various Temple of Bonalu Festival:-
Many parts of Hyderabad, particularly the Old City witnessed a festive atmosphere on Sunday as thousands of devotees thronged to various Mahakali temples on the occasion of Bonalu.
Bonalu will conclude on Monday with a procession of the goddess on a decorated elephant, passing through the main thoroughfares of Shalibanda, Charminar and Nayapul. 13 major Mahakali temples of the Old City- Lal Darwaza, Miralam Mandi, Sri Akkanna Madanna, Haribowli, Mateshwari Mutyalamna in Bela, Kota Maisamma in Gowlipura, Uppuguda Mahakali temple, Jagdamba temple in Sultan Shahi, Nalla Pochamma and Mahakali temple, Muradmahal take part in the centralised procession. All temples bring their Ghatams in a joint procession, which are immersed in the Musi.






About Bonalu Prasadam:-
A meal in Telugu, is an offering to the Mother Goddess. Women bring cooked rice with milk, sugar sometimes onions in a brass or earthen pot, adorned with small neem (Azhardicta indica) branches and turmeric, vermilion (kunkum) or Kadi (white chalk) and a lamp on the top. Women place the pots on their heads and take it to Goddess temple, led by drummers and dancing men high on the toddy that  is consumed liberally. 









Potharaju ghatam:-
Potharaju, the brother of Mother Goddess, is represented in the procession by a well-built, bare-bodied man, wearing a small tightly draped red dhoti and bells on his ankles, and anointed with turmeric on his body and vermilion on his forehead. He dances to resounding drums.

He always dances before the Palaharam Bandi, the procession. He is considered the initiator of the festivities and the protector of the community. He leads the tranced female dancers who are under spell of the Mother Goddess.







Shigam  Rangam:-
The festival would conclude on the next day that is on monday with the prediction called with lashing whips and emerald neem leaves (margosa) tied around their waists, accompanied by trumpets and drums . During the Rangam, a devoted woman enters into trance (Shigam) standing on a wet urn and loudly announces future predictions.People believe that, Goddess Kali enters into the body of the women to make her devotees cautious about their future.
with lashing whips and emerald neem leaves (margosa) tied around their waists, accompanied by trumpets and drums.







Ghatam is a copper pot, decorated in the form of mother goddess . The Ghatam is carried by a priest, who wears a traditional dhoti and body with smeared in turmeric . The Ghatam is taken into procession from first day of the festival till last day, when it is immersed in water . The Ghatam in usually accompanied by drums.
Ghatam is followed after Rangam. The festival concludes with immersion of Ghatam. The ghatam of Haribowli's Akkanna Madanna Temple leads the procession, placed atop an elephant and accompanied by mounted horses and models depicting Akkanna and Madanna. It ends in the evening with a glittering procession and display followed by immersion of ghatams at Nayapul.
A carnival-like atmosphere, where thousands of people wait along the main streets of Laldarwaza to Nayapul and watch the exquisitely and elaborately decorated Ghatams. Young men dance in a unique style to the drum beats and folk songs alongside Pothraju, dress-up in various mythological roles.

The Ghatams of the Old city procession include the Mahankali temples in Haribowli Akkanna-Madanna, Laldarwaza, Uppuguda, Miralam Mandi and Kasaratta, the Jagadamba temple of Sultanshahi, Bangaru Mysamma temple of Shalibanda, Alijah Kotla and Gowlipura, and Sultanshahi, Darbar Mysamma of Aliabad and Mutyalamma temple of Chandulal Bela.
The Goddess travels in the final procession in a goat-drawn chariot while all the participants and artists rally around her, putting on a brilliant display with color, fire and festivity.




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